


The Case of the Changeling Child

by lea_hazel



Series: Joan Watson and the Case of the Changeling Child [1]
Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: Case Fic, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Community: purimgifts, Gen, POV Joan Watson (Elementary), Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22970995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/pseuds/lea_hazel
Summary: Joan takes on a case of two parents concerned about their child's new teacher.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Series: Joan Watson and the Case of the Changeling Child [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674073
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7
Collections: Purimgifts 2020





	The Case of the Changeling Child

**Author's Note:**

  * For [strangeallure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeallure/gifts).



Being a parent changed things. Joan had been prepared for that, inasmuch as it was possible to be prepared for something so nebulous. Exactly _how_ things would change was difficult to predict. All the different parents in her life gave her wildly conflicting answers. The only thing she could be certain of was that some things would definitely change. She thought about that when she smiled and politely greeted the couple opening their door to her. A few years ago she might have refused their case, dismissing their concerns as helicopter parenting. Now, all she could see was two parents who were worried about their child.

Or, at least, one parent worried about her child. Madison Davenport clearly was concerned about the influence that a new kindergarten teacher was having on their five-year-old. She spoke with energy and conviction, while her wife mostly listened and watched. Joan filed away this information for future reference. She would have to speak to the two mothers separately, at some point. Maybe Marjorie would be more open-mouthed, if her strong-willed wife was in the next room instead of sitting by her side on the sofa, holding her hand in both of hers.

"Ms. Davenport," said Joan, addressing the woman directly, "can you explain what, exactly, you're concerned about?"

"There's a new kindergarten teacher at my son's school," explained Madison. "He started in the middle of the school year, which in itself is very irregular, and we didn't have any advance notice, so we couldn't even look him him to see his score on RateMyChildsTeacher.com."

"It was a bit abrupt," agreed Marjorie, in a more measured tone, "and they didn't really explain why Miss Sharma had to leave. We liked her."

"We paid a lot of money to put Dion in a good school and get him every advantage," Madison went on, getting her rhythm back. "And the wait list was _years_ long, and all they did to inform the parents was send a letter home with him. A letter! No email, and nothing in the parents' WhatsApp group chat. A letter, if you'd believe it."

"A hand-written letter," Marjorie interjected hastily.

"A _photo-copied_ letter," her wife corrected her.

"I'm not sure I follow," said Joan delicately. "Is your grievance against the school administration, or against Mr.-- Mr.--" She flipped through her notebook, looking for the details she had jotted down when they spoke on the phone.

"Mr. Frye," supplied Marjorie.

"My _grievance_ ," said Madison with great emphasis, "is with the school, but what I want _you_ to do is find me something on this Frye character."

"Do you want me to dig up dirt on him?" asked Joan. "I should tell you right now, I don't really do that. I'm not that kind of PI."

"She wants a background check," said Marjorie.

"I want to know who he _is_ ," said Madison. "I want to know who's educating my son. Dion hasn't been the same since this new teacher showed up. He's _changed_."

"He has been a little quiet, lately," said Marjorie. "He stays in his room a lot more than he did before."

She gestured broadly at the living room, which was filled with all kinds of educational toys, as well as a small, child-height bookcase full of colorful picture books. Everything was neatly stacked and ordered. There was no dust anywhere -- the house was too neat for that -- but there was also no sense that any of these toys had been played with, recently.

Madison sighed, and reached for the quilted tissue box on the coffee table. "He used to be such an open, loving child. We would read to him every night, or he would sit here with us in the living room, playing on the floor while we talked. Now he never seems to want to leave his room, and he only wants to read the same two books, over and over."

"My son had a phase like that, not too long ago," said Joan, hoping a personal anecdote would help put the parents more at ease. "There was this one book about a baby giraffe, and he insisted on me reading it to him at bedtime, every night, for a month."

"It's been longer than a month," admitted Marjorie, "and it's true that he wasn't so, well, reclusive when Miss Sharma was his teacher. She was big on social skills, and he would come home every day and tell us exactly what they did at school, all day long."

Madison sighed again, but happily.

"He did start speaking pretty late, though," said Marjorie carefully.

Her wife's face froze. "The doctor said that was normal," she replied, her tone clipped. "The psychologist said that, given time, he would catch up to all the other kids, _and he did_."

"She did say that," agreed Marjorie, "and he hasn't had trouble catching up, since."

Joan reviewed her notes before leaving the house, and reassured both worried mothers that the standard background check would not take long to complete. Whether that would be enough reassurance for Madison Davenport, she couldn't say, but she had a sneaking feeling that she would need to speak to the kindergarten teacher in person. She couldn't imagine a school so prestigious hiring on a teacher without a background check, but then, she also found it hard to fault the parents for being more than commonly concerned.

Parenthood had definitely changed her.

**Author's Note:**

> I did not check to see if RateMyChildsTeacher.com was a real website.


End file.
